Serena Williams “pain-free” as she chases history at US Open

Serena Williams insists she didn’t have any flashback nightmares when she first stepped on the grounds of the US Open this year.

He told gulfnews.com: “I see him really challenging Djokovic’s supremacy in the next few grand slams”. “Yeah, it didn’t end out wonderful for me, or the way I wanted it to end, but it was all I could do”.

Can he come back from the trying news and flagging form to defend his title? “It’s always a good feeling”.

Having been defeated by Djokovic in each of the first two majors of 2016 at the Australian Open and French Open, Murray has taken full advantage of the world number one’s recent struggles by winning a third grand slam title at Wimbledon and his second Olympic gold medal at Rio 2016.

Kerber, who picked up a silver medal at the Olympics, losing to Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig in the final, begins her United States challenge against Polona Hercog, of Slovenia.

“It was a great feeling of course”, said Nishikori, whose breakthrough run in 2014 was followed by an abrupt first-round exit a year ago.

It all started when Rosol appeared to intentionally bump Murray during a changeover in that quarterfinal match at Munich in 2015.

Serena, the top seed and world No. 1, is set to take the Ashe Stadium court under the lights on Tuesday night against Russian Ekaterina Makarova, against whom Williams is 4-1, including a victory in the 2014 semifinals.

“Serena talks about being in the zone, ” King said.

Halep says she wasn’t flawless, but pleased with how she played against the Belgian.

In a way, Williams is chasing Kerber rather than vice versa.

Williams, 34, has 22 Grand Slam singles titles to her name, putting her in a tie with Steffi Graf for most by any woman in the Open Era. Margaret Court holds the all-time women’s record with 24 major titles.

“It was great to be challenged and to be pushed”, said the 36-year-old Venus, a two-time U.S. Open champion, “because I had to get in those situations that you know you’re going to face in the tournament”. “Not the same pressure she faced past year, but there will be a little bit of pressure”. The pair, who have been together for over a decade, share a two-year-old son, Stefan, named for the legendary tennis player Stefan Edberg.

Kerber had a chance earlier this month to unseat Williams at the Cincinnati Open but lost in a shock final defeat to Czech Karolina Pliskova.

The American star, who is also chasing a record seventh crown in NY, has been struggling with a right shoulder injury which contributed to an early loss at the Olympics and forced a withdrawal from last week’s Cincinnati tournament. “I didn’t go for the big 120s (mph), just the regular”.

“Usually I prefer to play more coming into the final Grand Slam of the year, but there is nothing we can do about it”, Williams said Friday.

As is always the case with Serena in NY, more history will be on the line.

Juan Martin del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion, advanced with a 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) victory over fellow Argentine Diego Schwartzman.

Halep, who reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open previous year, will next face Lucie Safarova, a 6-4, 6-4 victor over Daria Gavrilova. “You just have to make the best of every single opportunity”.